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Alex glanced at the black-haired, blue-eyed girl next to hi that crisscrossed and covered the entire land of Quilla tear She shook silently She was not thirteen, Alex decided In a brave o quickly" He wasn’t sure why he said that It was the only co he could think of
She blinked and turned her face up at hi the shadow boxes race across her face like they did across everything, everywhere "Lani," she whispered back, and shook her head "And no It won’t"
Alex didn’t knohat to say He stood at attention as a governor took a key froate "Suovernor obliged by pounding on the gate When the enoran boarding the bus again
Lani watched the down her face "Good-bye, Father," she said as a slight, gray-haired overnor paused in the doorway for a split second and then, perhaps heavily, continued up the steps without looking back He took a seat on the opposite side of the bus Lani turned away and roughly whisked the tears froiant black iron door to the Death Farle file
Inside were four enormous Eliminators robed in black Their heads were covered in cloth, but their beady red eyes pierced into the already frightened souls of the children Lani now appeared to be the only cal chain of children walked inside
"What are they?" Meghan gasped, and reached aardly for Alex’s hand
Alex grasped Meghan’s hand and gave it a frightened squeeze "I don’t know," he whispered He felt like his chest was going to collapse Breathing in and out slowly, Alex closed his eyes for a roaned and closed with a loud clang, the lock clicking auto them from Quill forever The Elied slowly, the children following
They were in a s stood before the black lake boiled beyond it Alex shuddered That’s where they’ll do it to us The oily stench seeer as they shuffled across broken ce weeds, toward the building It was more desolate than the ray here, although there was no barbed wire--just open sky None of them had ever seen an uninterrupted sky before
Everything was eerily silent but for the clanking of the chains and the scuffle of shoes as the Unwanteds moved forward The seconds felt like hours When the Eli and turned their eyes to the sky, Alex followed their gaze
The other children looked up too Froe bird--or so--slowly approached The Elie, hulking, silent, as a four-legged winged creature landed with an ominous thud directly in front of them
Elimination
The creature was an extraordinarily beautiful yet frightening tortoise with long wings that were covered with glistening white feathers, tipped in black Theout its neck to view its audience, and, even on all fours, was more than half as tall as the smallest child, Lani The spectacular creature bobbed its head to the Eliminators, and then it looked each Unwanted in the eye In turn, each dropped his gaze and instinctively drew back as far as his chains would allow
After a few moments the tortoise appeared satisfied When it spoke--to the utter shock of the children--it was in a deep, agonizingly slow voice
"Wel … corim, and the word caused a chill to run up Alex’s spine "We’ve been"--it paused for a breath--"ex … pect … ing you"
Sa boy from the bus who had been silent all this time, muttered an oath under his breath and raised his fists, ready to fight, but Alex and the others were fearfully mesmerized by the odd creature that stood before the to attack? What did it have to do with this decrepit far but the smell of death? They watched the tortoise, alrim face, but not quite able to look away, either
The tortoise blinked a long, slow blink Craning its long neck to look behind it, it lifted its round front leg and held it next to its mouth, as if to cup its words "Mar … cus," it called out in its slow, gri? Alex wondered A ray building and lifted his hand
All at once, Alex felt dizzy, as the space around hiray building and the wall behind the charcoal haze He blinked rapidly and wondered if he and all the children had already been eli on his body hurt, yet the charcoal blur of everything around hirew steadily brighter, nearly blinding hi at all like what Alex expected to feel when ihan, who could not help herself, cried out, "What’s happening?"